Recently, according to the Daily Economic News, the Japanese battery giant Maxell has developed a cylindrical all-solid-state battery product, which can reach 200 mAh, which is about 25 times higher than the traditional ceramic packaging (cube-shaped) battery. At the same time, its products will start shipping as early as January this year.
It is important to know that as early as last year, most Japanese related companies have made frequent moves in the field of all-solid-state battery applications and have begun to have an industrial layout.
On October 12 last year, according to Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation and Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Oil Company jointly announced that they plan to carry out comprehensive cooperation in the field of mass production of all-solid-state batteries for pure electric vehicles, and jointly devote themselves to the research and development and productivity improvement of solid-state electrolytic quality production technology, so as to make all-solid-state batteries enter the practical stage from 2027 to 2028 as much as possible.
It is reported that the all-solid-state battery jointly developed by the two companies uses sulfide solid electrolyte, and lithium sulfide is used in the intermediate material of the sulfide solid electrolyte, which is produced as a sulfur-containing by-product in the petroleum refining process. As a result, this solid-state electrolyte is capable of achieving characteristics such as high capacity and high power.
In addition, the development of the cooperation between the two companies is divided into a three-step plan, the first stage of which is to carry out the research and development of sulfide all-solid electrolytes and the verification of planned mass production. In the second phase, Idemitsu Kosho will promote the manufacture and mass production of sulfide solid-state electrolytes, while Toyota Motor Corporation will continue to promote the development of all-solid-state batteries with this solid-state electrolyte and electric vehicles equipped with these all-solid-state batteries, and will try to bring such electric vehicles equipped with all-solid-state batteries to the market from 2027 to 2028.
The third stage is to carry out future mass production planning based on the sales performance of the second stage and the technological maturity of the industrial chain.
So, what are the advantages of all-solid-state batteries over traditional liquid batteries? Solid-state batteries have very high safety, higher battery cycle life and higher energy density, so this kind of battery is also widely regarded as the future development direction of the new generation of battery technology.
According to Tsuneji Sato, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, all-solid-state batteries have many characteristics such as short charging time, ultra-long battery life, and high power output. Therefore, it is precisely because of the high temperature resistance, high voltage resistance and high safety of all-solid-state batteries that there are better battery power options for performance sports cars that meet higher requirements and commercial vehicles that need to be recharged frequently.
In the future, with the further development of science and technology and the continuous decline in costs, all-solid-state batteries will have broader development prospects, or will become the mainstream battery technology for new energy electric vehicles and portable electronic devices in the future.
Although it has good development prospects, the current all-solid-state battery is still facing many challenges such as high production cost and small production scale, and its development still needs further technological breakthroughs and the improvement of related industrial chains.
At this stage, all-solid-state electrolyte batteries are still in the research and development stage, and there are still many technical problems in order to achieve large-scale mass production, including the low lithium-ion conductivity of solid-state electrolyte materials, the poor contact and stability of solid-to-solid interfaces, and the rechargeability of lithium metal.
With solid-state battery technology so strong, what is the layout of the mainland in this regard?
At present, Continental occupies a global monopoly position in the field of lithium-ion batteries, controlling the vast majority of the global battery market. There is also a large-scale layout in the field of solid-state batteries. According to the mass production plans of some advanced companies for all-solid-state batteries, most of their mass production time is around 2025.
This plan of most Chinese companies is actually closely related to the demand for lithium batteries in the three major fields of consumption, power and energy storage. It is reported that China's lithium battery production may exceed 1200GWh in 2027, while China's solid-state battery market space is about 26GWh.
With the needs of global environmental protection and sustainable development, the development of next-generation technology must be the update and iteration of new materials, and all-solid-state batteries with solid-state electrolyte as the core of research and development are becoming a hot spot in global battery technology.